Page:The Works of Honoré de Balzac Volume 29.djvu/63

Rh close quarters, when the rattle of musketry almost ceases, and the click of the bayonets is heard instead, and the ranks meet man to man; and, courage being equal on either side, the victory is won by sheer force of numbers. At first the Chouans would have carried all before them if the two wings under Merle and Gérard had not brought two or three volleys to bear slantwise on the enemy's rear. By rights the two wings should have stayed where they were, and continued to pick off their formidable foes in this adroit manner; but the sight of the heroic battalion, now hemmed in on all sides by the Chasseurs du Roi, excited them. They flung themselves like madmen into the struggle on the roadway, bayonet in hand, and redressed the balance again for a few moments. Both sides gave themselves up to a furious zeal, aggravated by the ferocious cruelty of party-spirit that made this war an exception. Each became absorbed by his own peril, and was silent. The place seemed chill and dark with death. The only sounds that broke the silence, and rose above the clash of weapons and the grating noise of the gravel underfoot, were the deep, hollow groans of those who fell badly wounded, or of the dying as they lay. In the Republican centre the dozen conscripts defended the person of the commandant (who issued continual warnings and orders manifold) with such courage that more than once a soldier here and there had cried, "Bravo, conscripts!"

Hulot, the imperturbable and wide-awake, soon noticed among the Chouans a man, also surrounded by picked troops, who appeared to be their leader. It seemed to him very needful to make quite sure of this officer; now and again he made efforts to distinguish his features, hidden by a crowd of broad hats and red caps, and in this way he recognised Marche-à-Terre beside the officer, repeating his orders in a hoarse voice, while he kept his carbine in constant use. Hulot grew tired of the repeated annoyance. He drew his sword, encouraged his requisitionaries, and dashed so furiously upon the Chouan centre that he penetrated their ranks and caught a glimpse of the officer, whose face, un-